Miniature MICR document reader with power management and motorized conveyance

ABSTRACT

A magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) system includes power management features so as to permit the unit to be powered by the auxilliary power provided by a generic host (e.g., an electronic cash register). The system also includes motorized conveyance features in combination with a track facilitating manual conveyance.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/819,498, filed Jan.10, 1992, now abandoned.

This invention relates to magnetic ink character recognition, and moreparticularly to an inexpensive MICR document reader that can be used atthe point of sale. Still more particularly, the present inventionrelates to a point-of-sale MICR document reader having power managementand motorized conveyance.

Inexpensive MICR document readers are generally known. See assignee'sU.S. Pat. No. 5,054,092, the entire disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference herein as is expressly set forth.

Many electronic cash register ("ECR") systems use instruments to addfunctionality that are external to the ECR, such as check readers, barcode readers, or credit card readers. For example, MICR document readersmay be installed at the point of sale (e.g., along side or as part of aconventional ECR). It is desirable for the document reader to directlyprovide recognized magnetic character information (e.g., the sequence ofnumbers appearing at the bottom of a customer's check) in digital formto the ECR so as to eliminate the need for the ECR operator to manuallykey the information.

For example, it is possible (in one exemplary configuration) toelectrically connect the document reader as a so-called "wedge" (asshown in FIG. 1) between the keyboard of the ECR and the ECR processor.In this configuration, the document reader when inactive is transparentwith respect to (and simply passes) data from the keyboard to theprocessor. However, when the document reader is active and hasrecognized a sequence of characters, it passes the recognizedinformation in digital form (i.e., in the same form as numericalinformation is provided by the keyboard) to the ECR processor. Thiseliminates the need for the ECR operator to manually key in therecognized MICR information, and also provides compatibility with a widerange of different types of ECRs.

Usually, add-on equipment to an ECR system (e.g., external MICR documentreaders) requires external power because the ECR cannot providesufficient power to operate the added instrument. External powersupplies add cost and installation difficulty when anyone uses suchadded equipment. Similar problems may be encountered with any generichost system with add-on equipment.

Conventional ECRs typically provide to their keyboard (or at some otheraccess point) a DC power supply voltage (e.g., +5 VDC or +12 VDC) at afew hundred milliamperes. It is possible to design the add-on equipmentto run at a power consumption below what is available from the host.This allows the added instrument to draw its power from the host and notrequire an external power supply. For example, the assignee (CheckmateElectronics) has successfully used this technique in its SMR300 seriesof manually conveyed (non-motorized) MICR check readers. However, aspower requirements of the equipment increase (e.g., due to the presenceof a motor to convey the document) or the power provided by the ECRdecreases (some ECRs provide only 50 ma for example), this solutionfails.

Another problem with conventional MICR document readers relates toconveyance techniques. As explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,092, thereare many advantages to a manual (non-motorized) conveyance system.However, some users may desire automatic (motorized) conveyance in thecontext of an inexpensive point-of-sale MICR reader. It would bedesirable to give the purchaser a choice between manual and automaticconveyance.

The present invention solves these problems by providing an inexpensivecompact MICR document reader with power management and an automaticconveyance option.

In regard to power management, the MICR reader provided by the presentinvention has power requirements when fully operating that exceed theamount of current continuously available from a typical ECR. Forexample, the reader may include a processor and related components, amagnetic read head, an encoder wheel and associated A/D converter andother timing circuitry, and a motor and associated driving circuitry.When all of these components are operating, they may draw in excess ofthe 200 milliamperes or so available from a typical ECR.

However, the usage duty cycle of the MICR reader is low (since the unitis only operated infrequently such as at the end of a transaction whenthe customer presents a check for payment). In accordance with onefeature provided by the present invention, the unit goes into a lowpower mode when dormant and not in use. During this dormant period, thereader stores energy obtained from the ECR. When the unit beginsoperating in the active mode (e.g., upon insertion of a document intothe reader for recognition), it obtains power from its stored reserves(in addition to the power continuously applied by the ECR). In this way,the reader's peak power requirements may exceed the amount of power theECR is capable of continuously supplying.

The preferred embodiment MICR reader may include a motor and associatedgear arrangement so as to permit automatic document conveyance. Thedocument is conveyed within a track of the type described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,054,092. Thus, either manual or automatic document conveyance ispossible.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention may bebetter and more completely understood by referring to the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary electronic cashregister system with the MICR reader provided by the present inventionconnected as a "wedge" between the ECR electronics and the ECR keyboard;

FIG. 2 is a block schematic diagram of an exemplary power managementsystem provided by the FIG. 1 MICR reader;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic circuit diagrams of two different exemplarypower management configurations; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of an exemplary motor-controlledautomatic document conveyance arrangement provided within the FIG. 1MICR reader

FIG. 1 shows an electronic cash register system (ECR) 10 including acash register processor and associated display unit ("processor unit")12, and further including a cash register keyboard 14. The MICR reader("reader") 16 provided by the present invention may be, for example,connected as a "wedge" between the processor unit 12 and the keyboard14. Reader 16 intercepts power provided by processor unit 12 (whichincludes a DC power supply) to keyboard 14, and uses this power as itsown power source such that no additional or auxiliary power source isrequired. Reader 16 need not be connected as a "wedge", of course, andmay be instead connected in parallel with keyboard 14 or otherwiseconnected to processor unit 12 in a conventional manner.

In the preferred embodiment, reader 16 has an active mode (i.e., whenthe reader is reading a check) and a dormant mode (when no check isbeing read). Referring to FIG. 2, reader 16 includes dormant circuits18, active only circuits 20, a power switch 22, and an energy storageelement 24. The dormant circuits 18 remain powered on at all times, andthus continually draw power (such dormant circuits typically include atleast a document sensor to sense the presence of a document to be read;a memory storing data; and output latches that interface with ECRprocessor unit 12). Active only circuits 20 comprise circuits that areactive only during the active mode of reader 16 (e.g., a motor andassociated motor driving circuit). Energy storage element 24 (which maycomprise a rechargeable battery or a capacitor, for example) isconnected to the power continually supplied by processor unit 12 so thatthe energy storage element is trickle charged by the processor unitpower. Power switch 22 connects energy storage element 24 to active onlycircuits 20 when reader begins operating in the active mode (e.g., inresponse to sensing of a document by a document sensor). Thus, forexample, when a check is placed into reader 16, the document sensorturns on power switch 22, which then turns on the motor (the maincomponent of the active only circuits 20). Energy storage element 24provides all of the power for the motor in the preferred embodiment.

Processor unit 12 is capable of continuously supplying approximately 200ma at 5 VDC, for example, and preferred embodiment reader 16 has dormantpower requirements of about 190 milliamperes at 5 VDC. During the activemode, reader 16 requires about 400 milliamperes at 5 VDC. Thus, forevery second of active time, reader 16 needs about 40 seconds of dormanttime to recapture the energy consumed, because the dormant power issplit to have 10 ma put into storage, and 180 ma used by the dormantcircuits in the preferred embodiment. Thus, reader 16 has an average40:1 duty cycle. The peak duty cycle allowed and duration of peak dutycycle depends on the amount of energy storage available.

FIG. 3 is a detailed schematic diagram of pertinent portions of oneexemplary embodiment of reader 16. In the exemplary FIG. 3 arrangement,energy storage element 24 compares a pair of series connected AAA or AAnicad batteries 24a, 24b of conventional design. These batteries 24a,24b are trickle charged by power supplied by processor unit 12 via atrickle charge circuit comprising, in the preferred embodiment, aresistor 28 connected in series with a diode 30. Resistor 28 provides acurrent limiting function. Diode 30 prevents batteries 24a, 24b fromdischarging through processor unit 12.

Batteries 24a, 24b are directly connected (through power switch 22) tomotor driving circuit 20 such that the motor is powered by the energystored in the batteries. Power switch is closed by a signal generated bydocument sensor 26 (which senses the presence of a document within theread track). The reader 16 processor, read head, timing encoder, andassociated electronics are all directly connected to and continuouslypowered by the power from processor unit 12 in this exemplary embodiment(the structure and operation of such components are all conventional asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,092).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a further embodiment of reader 16having further decreased or minimized dormant power requirements. Inthis exemplary configuration, the dormant circuits 18 comprise documentsensor 26, a volatile random access memory 35, and output drivers 37.These may be the only components within reader 16 that receive powercontinually. Paper sensor 26 is continually powered in order that it maydetect the presence of a document to be read (and thereby control reader16 to switch from the dormant mode into the active mode). RAM 35 iscontinually powered so that active configuration data is not lost.Output drivers 37 (used to send data to ECR processor unit 12) arecontinually powered to prevent them from entering undefined states andthereby provide unknown outputs to the processor unit.

In this FIG. 4 embodiment, active only circuits 20 comprise motordriving circuits (and associated motor) 20, and further include thereader microprocessor 39, reader magnetic read head 41 and associatedA/D converter 43, and timing circuits (including encoder wheel) 45(these components are conventional and may be as described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,054,092). When document sensor 26 senses the presence of adocument in reader 16, it closes power switch 22 to provide power tomain processor 39. Main processor 39 then executes a conventional powerup reset software routine, part of which controls an additional powerswitch 47 to close (thereby providing power to motor driving circuits20). Energy storage element 24 may comprises plural individual batterycells 24a-24d connected in series and/or parallel to provide additionalenergy storage. Thus, document sensor 26 activates microprocessor 39,which in turn controls (activates and deactivates) motor drivingcircuits 20.

Since the main processor 39 and associated components are active onlycircuits in the FIG. 4 embodiment, the dormant current drawn by reader16 is decreased relative to the FIG. 3 embodiment. This leaves morepower for charging batteries 24a, 24b and/or permits the system to drawless dormant current (e.g., in the case of ECRs providing less than 200ma of current continually).

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side and top views, respectively, of relevantmechanical features of reader 16. Referring to FIG. 6, reader 16includes a housing 50 defining a document track or slotted path 52therein of the type and construction as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,054,092. This slotted path 52 permits a document (e.g., a bank check)to be easily manually conveyed therethrough while preventing thedocument from collapsing during such conveyance. Path 52 thus has theeffect of "rigidifying" the document as it is manually conveyedtherethough, and is of a height and dimensions such that an upper edgeof the document protrudes from the slot so as to be grasped (e.g.,between the thumb and one or more fingers of the human hand) and movedby hand during manual conveyance.

Reader 16 further includes an encoder or timing wheel 54, and mayfurther include drive wheels 56, 58. Encoder wheel 54 is as described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,054,092, and includes an outer rubberizedcircumferential surface 55 that protrudes into slotted path 52 through agap (not shown) in the wall defining the slotted path. Surface 55frictionally engages a document disposed within slotted path 52 suchthat encoder wheel 54 rotates as the document moves linearly along theslotted path.

Similarly, drive wheels 56, 58 are rubberized and protrude into slottedpath 52 through gaps in the wall defining the slotted path. Drive wheels56, 58 frictionally engage the surface of a document within the slottedpath 52, so that rotation of the drive wheels causes the document to belinearly conveyed along the length of the slotted path. Thus, a documentcan be manually conveyed along slotted path 52 by force imparted by ahuman hand; or rotation of drive wheels 56, 58 may be used toautomatically convey the document along the path.

Drive wheels 56, 58 are driven to rotate by the drive shaft 60 ofelectric motor 20a. FIG. 5 shows an exemplary gearing arrangement 59 forcoupling rotation of drive shaft 60 to rotate drive wheels 56, 58. Inthe preferred embodiment, arrangement 59 including motor 20a, drivewheels 56, 58, and gears 62-74 may preferably be part of a unitaryassembly (e.g., mounted on a common subhousing 76) such that theassembly can be optionally easily installed into reader 16 at the timeof manufacture (i.e., to convert the reader from manual-conveyance-onlyto a reader having automatic conveyance capabilities).

In the exemplary arrangement shown, a first gear 62 fixedly disposed todrive shaft 60 is coupled to a reduction gear 64. Reduction gear 64, inturn, is coupled to a drive gear 66 sharing a common shaft with drivewheel 58. Transmission gears 68, 70, 72 couple rotation from drive gear66 to a further drive gear 74, the further drive gear 74 sharing acommon shaft with drive wheel 56. Since there is no reduction in gearingin the coupling between drive gear 58 and further drive gear 74, drivewheels 58, 56 rotate at the same speed so as to convey a common documentalong the length of slotted path 52 in response to rotation of motordrive shaft 60.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A document reader having dormant and active modesfor cooperation with an electronic cash register (ECR) host and anelectronic data entry keyboard which receives a supply of DC electricalpower from said ECR host, said document reader including:first circuitrywhich includes a connector connectable to said data entry keyboard so asintercept at least a part of said supply of DC electrical power suppliedby said ECR to said keyboard during both said dormant and active modes;second circuitry which is active only during said active mode of saiddocument reader and which demands a peak supply of DC electrical powerin excess of that supplied by the ECR host to the keyboard; a powerstorage component connected to said first circuitry for receiving saidintercepted DC electrical power from said ECR host and for storing saidintercepted DC electrical power during said dormant mode; and a powermanagement switch coupled to said power storage component and saidsecond circuitry for enabling said stored DC electrical power to betransferred to and used by said second circuitry during said active modeto satisfy said peak electrical power demand thereof.
 2. A magnetic inkcharacter recognition (MICR) apparatus having dormant and active modesand adapted to be used operatively with an electronic cash register(ECR) host having an electronic data entry keyboard which receives acontinuous supply of DC electrical power from said ECR host, said MICRapparatus comprising:a slotted path dimensioned to accept a documentbearing magnetic ink characters; a magnetic character reader disposedalong said slotted path for magnetically reading and recognizing saidmagnetic ink characters on said document; an automated conveyance systemoperative during said active mode of said MICR apparatus and associatedwith said slotted path for conveying said document in a selecteddirection along said slotted path and thereby enable said magnetic inkcharacters to be read and recognized by said magnetic character reader,said automated conveyance system having a peak DC electrical powerdemand when activated during said active mode of said MICR apparatuswhich exceeds the continuous supply of DC electrical power from said ECRhost; and a power management system for supplying said peak power demandto said automated conveyance system in response to said MICR apparatusbeing in said active mode, said power management system including:(i) aconnector which intercepts said DC electrical power supplied by said ECRhost to said keyboard; (ii) power storage circuitry for receiving saidintercepted DC electrical power from said connector and for storing saidintercepted and received DC electrical power during said dormant mode ofsaid MICR apparatus, and (iii) switching circuitry coupled operativelyto said power storage circuitry and to said automated documentconveyance system for enabling said stored DC electrical power from saidpower storage circuitry to be transferred to and used by said automatedconveyance system.
 3. A MICR apparatus as in claim 2, wherein said powerstorage circuitry is powered continuously by said continuous supply ofpower from said ECR host.
 4. A MICR apparatus as in claim 2, whereinsaid switching circuitry is active only during said active mode of saidMICR apparatus.
 5. A MICR apparatus as in claim 2, which furthercomprises structure which enables a document to be conveyed manuallyalong said slotted path and past said magnetic character reader.
 6. AMICR apparatus as in claim 5, wherein said automated conveyance systemincludes an electric motor which receives electrical power from saidswitching circuitry during said active mode of said MICR apparatus, atleast one drive roller disposed operatively along said slotted path, anddrive gearing which interconnects said motor and said at least one driveroller.
 7. A MICR apparatus as in claim 2, wherein said power managementsystem is electrically connectable in series between said ECR host andsaid electronic keyboard.
 8. A MICR apparatus as in claim 2, whereinsaid power management system is electrically connectable in parallel toat least one of said ECR host and said electronic keyboard.
 9. Thecombination comprising:an electronic cash register (ECR) host which iscapable of providing a continuous supply of rated DC electrical power toperipheral equipment; an electronic data entry keyboard electricallyconnected to said ECR host as peripheral equipment so as to receive saidcontinuous supply of rated DC electrical power from said ECR host and tosupply manually entered data to said ECR host; and a magnetic inkcharacter recognition (MICR) apparatus having inactive and active modeswhich includes:(i) at least one component having a peak power demandduring said active mode which exceeds said rated DC electrical powercapable of being provided by said ECR host; (ii) at least anothercomponent having a nominal power demand during said active mode which iswithin said DC rated electrical power capable of being provided by ECRhost; and (iii) a power management system which includes a connector forintercepting said continuous supply of rated DC electrical powersupplied by said ECR host to said keyboard, said power management system(1) receiving said intercepted continuous supply of rated DC electricalpower from said ECR host and storing said intercepted DC electricalpower as an available stand-by source of DC electrical power during saidinactive mode, and (2) supplying said stored DC electrical power fromsaid available stand-by source to said at least one component to therebysatisfy said peak power demand thereof during said active mode.
 10. Thecombination as in claim 9, wherein said power management system includesfirst circuitry which is powered continuously by said continuous supplyof power from said ECR host to store electrical power as an availablestand-by power source.
 11. The combination as in claim 10, wherein saidpower management system includes second circuitry which is active onlyduring said active mode of said MICR apparatus for supplying said storedelectrical power from said available stand-by source to said componentto thereby satisfy said peak power demand thereof during said activemode.
 12. The combination as in claim 11, wherein said availablestand-by source is a battery or a capacitor.
 13. The combination as inclaim 11, wherein said first circuitry includes a trickle charger forcharging said stand-by source.
 14. The combination as in claim 9,wherein said MICR apparatus includes a slotted path through which adocument bearing magnetic ink characters may be conveyed, and whereinsaid component is an electrical motor for automatically conveying saiddocument along said slotted path.
 15. The combination as in claim 14,wherein said MICR apparatus includes structure which enables a documentto be conveyed manually along said slotted path.
 16. The combination asin claim 9, wherein said MICR apparatus includes an automated conveyancesystem for automatically conveying a document bearing magnetic inkcharacters.
 17. The combination as in claim 16, wherein said at leastone component is an electric motor which is a part of said automatedconveyance system.
 18. The combination as in claim 9, wherein said powermanagement system is electrically connected in series between said ECRhost and said electronic keyboard.
 19. A MICR apparatus as in claim 9,wherein said power management system is electrically connected inparallel to at least one of said ECR host and said electronic keyboard.